How much spending money?

[disneydreaming80]

We will be at our Disney resort for 10 nights. In the parks 9 days. It will be my husband, myself, our 13 year old son and 3 year old daughter. We have our tickets already and we have the basic dining plan with 1 QS and 1 TS meal each day. MNSSHP tickets already purchased, bought the memory maker.

So....I am trying to figure out how much spending money we will need. The last thing I want is to get there and not have enough! Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

 

[bpadair32]

Its really hard to say, as every family is different. We don't have the DDP, we are just paying OOP for meals. That being said we are going for 7 nights and are planning on taking about $3K for food and souvenirs. It will be Me, DW, DS6, DD4, and DD6mos.

 

[loves to dive]

If it were me, I'd look up the breakfast menus (I'm assuming that is the meal you are going to eat OP) and check prices. Figure the costs of that, you get a snack per person per day with your dining plan so unless ya'll are big snackers that should hold you. If not, factor in maybe another $5 per day per person (I'm guessing here, I rarely get snacks when I'm there). If you or DH are going to drink any alcoholic beverages, you need to factor that in, if not I think you get a refillable mug with your plan, which can be refilled at your resort but not the parks. You are going to get a drink with each of your meals, I always drink water with my meal and carry the bottle around with me but if you drink anything other than water you are either going to have to buy bottled water or get the free water at the QS locations. So think about that. Then however much you want to allocate to souvenirs. Given most everything is paid for, if you wanted to you could get away with $500, I'd fudge with $1000 if it's available for you. Or, if you have a cc, put it all on that and just pay it off when you get home.

 

[HizMinnie2015]

Its our first time - 8 days/7 nights; we have the DxDP; MNSSHP tickets for 10/27 Memory maker.... We have 7 TS meals So I figured each one at about $100 (some more, some less) and 20% for tips. So no more than $200 for that. Then since we have never been and we have 4 grown kids/10 grand kids - I will have a reason to do a lil shopping. We are taking a total of $1000 as spending, tips, alcohol and what not. We are not planning on more, but will have back up CC just in case.

 

[davper]

Its our first time - 8 days/7 nights; we have the DxDP; MNSSHP tickets for 10/27 Memory maker.... We have 7 TS meals So I figured each one at about $100 (some more, some less) and 20% for tips. So no more than $200 for that. Then since we have never been and we have 4 grown kids/10 grand kids - I will have a reason to do a lil shopping. We are taking a total of $1000 as spending, tips, alcohol and what not. We are not planning on more, but will have back up CC just in case.

Isn't the DxDP the Deluxe dining plan and wouldn't that come with 21 TS meals?

 

[HizMinnie2015]

we have 2 ressies; but yes it is the Deluxe dining plan... comes with meals; TS or QS. Its up to you how you use them. - The meals are not designated one way or the other.

 

[davper]

Why would you pay for TS and only get QS? The DP is already questionable as to whether it is worth it. Why give money away?

 

[plutoloversmom]

I just wanted to remind you, that the DP does not include tip. Most table service meals for us are usually at least a 20 usually more like 45 dollars tip. Disney usually only gives you an option of 18 or 20 percent on your tip amount. Us consists of me, my mom, DD9 and DD14. If you are planning on buying souvenirs I would plan at least 50 dollars a child. That is maybe a set of ears and a shirt. If you have the Disney chase card there is a 10 percent discount on purchases of 50 or more. This helps. To save money we usually either do a late breakfast or an early lunch and then dinner at table service later in the day.

 

[213Dittohead]

We're going in November. I'm planning three or four meals during a five day trip. The rest of the time we'll eat at our timeshare. Groceries are cheaper

I still plan to take around $1500, and we'll spend what we spend. It's vacation, fun to splurge.

 

[Art 1]

We will be at our Disney resort for 10 nights. In the parks 9 days. It will be my husband, myself, our 13 year old son and 3 year old daughter. We have our tickets already and we have the basic dining plan with 1 QS and 1 TS meal each day. MNSSHP tickets already purchased, bought the memory maker.

So....I am trying to figure out how much spending money we will need. The last thing I want is to get there and not have enough! Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

Maybe $1200 in cash and a debit card. Or, just a few hundred and a debit card. Then you don't have to worry about not having enough.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Don't forget there are Chase ATM all over the place. Every resort has one and the parks.

 

[ZoZo]

OP, that's such a hard question to answer. Everyone has different ideas about spending. Souvenirs, snacks, odds and ends - there are tons of different "spending styles". Some people buy bottled water at the parks - at $3 a bottle, that really adds up. (I just bring a refillable bottle and ask for free CS ice water to fill my bottle!).

One strategy might be to set a maximum dollar amount per person for souvenirs - maybe $50 or $100 for the whole trip, per person. I travel as a single adult with friends, so don't have to worry about kids - but I tell myself I can have one apparel item and one other type of souvenir. This helps me keep my spending in check.